Manufacture of slide fasteners



April 14, 19%;,

F. ULRICH MANUFACTURE OF SLIDE FASTENERS Filed Dec. 20, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR FREDERICK ULRICH Y K ATTORNEYS vApril 14, 1942. F-. ULRICH MANUFACTURE OF SLIDE FASTENERS v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 20, 1940 "II v M Y ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 14', 1 942 MANUFACTURE OF SLIDE FASTENERS Frederick Ulrich, Bayonne, N. J., assignor to Conmar Products Corporation, Bayonne, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application December 20, 1940, Serial No. 370,947

15 Claims.

jaws. The spacing is preferably only a fraction of the length of the elements, so that the strip provides metal for a series of slide fastener elements with the embryo head of one element nested within and filling thespa'ce between the embryo spread jaws of the next embryo element.

This wire is preferably formed by rolling a smooth or uniform wire between small-diameter die rolls carried in massive shafts and bearings such that adequate pressure may be exerted on the wire to fully shape the same in a single passage through the rolls. With both rolls oppositely recessed, a thin fin or web of metal remains in ,the notches, because it is difficult to completely control the fiow of the metal. A soft metal is not satisfactory for a long-wearing slide fastener,

and with a satisfactory hard metal, a residue or fin remains in the notches This fin may be cut away in the machine which attaches the elements to a tape, all as disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No. 264,550, filed March 28,

. However, there is some inconvenience attendant upon cutting the fin atthe attaching machine, and one object of the present invention is to overcome this difiiculty.

The tiny triangular pieces of web which must be cut from the side edges of the wire are so small that they tend to clog the cutting punch of the attachingmachine unless they areefiectively cleared away by means of an air blast or the like. Consequently compressed air must be piped to each of the scoop machines. In accordance with the present invention, the fin is trimmed or cut away by a cutting roll through which the wire is passed. It is desirable to use an air blast even when using a rotary cutter as here disclosed, but

the rotary cutting operation is very fast, and a i single rotary machine for trimming the wire will suffice for the treatment of enough wire for a battery of attaching machines. The problem of piping and supplying compressed air for thev rotary machine is therefore a minor matter compared to the corresponding problem when the fin is trimmed in the attaching machine.

Further and more specific objects of the invention are to provide means to positively feed the wire through the cutting roll while. at the same time affording self-adjustment of the sideward position of the wire relative to the cutting roll; to provide means for cleaning the cutting roll; and to provide means for additionally vibrating and cleaning the trimmed wire, all with a view to insuring removal of the tiny pieces of cut fin from the wire before it is reeled for delivery to the attaching machines.

To the. accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the cutting rolls and associated mechanism and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter are more specifically described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification i accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a rolling machine provided with the cutting rolls of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of part of the apparatus 1 localized at the rolls and drawn to enlarged scale;

Fig. 3 is a section taken in elevation in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig.4 is a front elevation of a cutting roll and mating roll with the wire sectioned therebetween;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a piece of wire partially run through the rolls;

Fig. 6 is a section taken in the plane of the line E6 of Fig. 4, but drawn to enlarged scale;

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line 1 -1 'of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary section explanatory of the operation of the invention,'and is taken in the plane indicated at 8-8 in Fig. 5; and

Figs. 9, l0, and 11 are similar views, but showing successive stages in the operation of the cutting roll.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Fig. 5, the slide fastener wire is preferably made 'by rolling and deforming a uniform wire of round or rectangular section to provide a series of interlocking projections i2 on one side, in this case the upper side, and a series of recesse's directly therebeneath on the lower side. These recesses are not shown in Fig. 5, but are indicated in broken lines at Min Fig. 6. The

side edges of the wire are notched or serrated, as

I is indicated at it in Figs. 5 and 6, but these serand dimensioned as to be received in the shafts of a rolling machine such as that disclosed in Wintritz Patent No. 2,201,068, issued May 14,

1940, although it is not necessaryv in the present case to use a machine of the heavy construction there disclosed, because the present cutting operation is a light-duty operation compared to the rolling operation for which the aforesaid machine was designed. Specifically, the roll 2!! is received in the end of a shaft 24 carried in a bearing 26, said shaft carrying a gear 28 driven by means of a pinion 30 through an idler 32. The

roll 221s carried in the end of a shaft 34 carried in a bearing 36, said shaft 34 carrying a gear 38 meshing with a pinion. The pinions 30 and 40 are both. carried on a countershaft 42 having a pulley 44 driven by belts 48 running downwardly to a drive motor, not shown in the drawchronously and in opposite directions. as they should be.

Referring now to Fig. 4, the cutting roll 20 comprises an operating portion formed integrally with atapered shank 50 which is received in the shaft 24 previously referred to. The working portion is deeply grooved at 52, and the resulting opposed face walls of the groove are radially. serrated, as is indicated at 54. The spacing between the serrated faces correspods to the width of the fastener wire. 'In practical effect, the. cutting roll may be considered as comprising two cutting rollsarranged coaxially and bearing ly of the wire. This shearing action is possible because the fin is elevated above the bottom of the wire, thus providing a space beneath the fininto which the fin may be forced by the teeth of roll 20. If the fin were located at one face of the wire, it would then be necessary, with the particular rolls here shown, to dispose that face of the wire uppermost, so as to provide the desired space beneath the firi. r

As so far described,.the lower roll may be a smooth roll, the wire being moved by the upper roll alone, but I find it advantageous and prefings. Thus the rolls 20 and 22 are rotated s'ynagainst opposite sides of the wire. Each of these ting rolls assembled properly for the intended purpose.

To facilitate'the formation of the teethor serrations 54, the groove 52 is preferably undercut or T-shaped, thus forming a space 56 (Figs. 6- and 7) at which the teeth 54 terminate.

Referring now to'Fig. 6, the teeth 54 of the rear roll are shown, but the teeth of the nearer roll are omitted. However, the wire and the pieces of web cut therefrom are shown in elevation, and it will be seen how the web is partially sheared away at 58 and is wholly cut away at 60.

- This cutting action is more clearly shown in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and. 11, which illustrate successive stages of the fin-cutting operation. In Fig. 8 the tooth 62 has just begun to bear against the fin 64; in Fig. 9 the leading, edge of fin 64 has been cut through; in Fig. 10 the trailing edge erable to positively drive the wire by' means of the lower roll. For this purpose the lower'roll is provided with a series of projections indicated at 10.

jections.) As will beseen in Fig. 6, the pro- .jecti ons 10 are dimensioned to be received in the recesses l4 and to substantially fillthe same in order to positively control the wire. However. when looking in a.plane transverse to the wire,

the tooth or projection Ill is preferably made thin fins 64 are readily sheared, whereas the fullthickness metal constitutes a much greater resistance, the wire tends to and does locate itself properly between'the two sets of teeth or serrations of the cutting roll.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the fin or scrap for the most part remains on the lower roll 22, and is collected by a scrap discharge pipe or chute 12. The upper end of pipe 12 is cut away so as to rest closely adjacent the surface of roll 22. An air-blast nozzle 14 is preferably disposed in the end of pipe 12, and the resulting discharge of compressed air helps blow the scrap off the roll 22, and also creates a suction within pipe 12 which additionally tends to draw the scrap away from the rolls. Nozzle 14 is formed at the end of a pipe 16 which in turn is connected to a suitable source of compressed air.

The cutting roll may be provided with means to, wipe the same free of any stray pieces of fin or scrap adhering thereto. For this purpose, a spring wiper blade 18 is mounted with its end touchingthe roll 20, thus keeping the peripheral face of the same in clean condition as it rotates toward the wire approaching the roll. In Figs. 2 and 3, the wire moves from right to left and the roll 20 turns clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3.

Inorder to guard cut fin or scrap clinging to the trimmed wire 80 which has passed through the rolls, additional means may be provided to remove any such residual scrap. The means here disclosed may be of fin- 64 is under pressure; and in Fig. 11 the piece of fin-is completely sheared from the wire.

At the same time the next tooth 06 is about to begin its shearing action on the next fin 68.

Thus the pressure exerted 'by'the teeth is in a radial direction toward the support roll 22, and

considered to be a vibrating means for vibrating the wire, or may be considered to be a means for physically wiping the serrated edges; The operation is probably a combination 'of both. Specifically, I provide spring fingers 82 on opposite sides of the wire, the ends of which bear against the serrated edges of the wire. It will be evident that the spring fingers tend to niove into and out of the successive serrations and so to clean the same. At the same time, because the tips of the spring fingers are preferably displaced slightly from one anothenthe wire" tends to vibrate as it passes through the spring the triangular-bits 'of'fln'are sheared transversefingers, thus further tending to clean the wire.-

(If the wire we're inverted the roll "22' would be provided with recesses instead of proagainst the possibility of.

the groove of cutting roll 20, as is indicated at.

92 (Fig. 3), and thus acts as a stripper to guard against any possibility of the wire being drawn upwardly by the teeth or serrations 54 of the cutting roll 20.

The guide and stripper 88, 92 have been omitted in Figs. 4, 6 and '7 in order to more clearly show other parts of the apparatus.

' It is believed that the constructio andoperation of my improved apparatus for trimming fin from slide fastener wire, as well as the many advantages thereof, will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will also be apparent that while I have shown and de scribed my invention in a preferred form,

changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departingfrom the spirit of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims. In the claims the reference to a cutting roll having a deep groove is intended to include the equivalent use of two coaxial rolls with a space therebetween, the space corresponding to the deep groove. Moreover, the reference to the support roll having projecfastener wire, said fin being thin relative to the wire, and located intermediate the top and bottom of the wire, said apparatus comprising first and second rolls with means to guide the wire therebetween, the firstroll having opposed face walls with radially extending serrations for bearing radially against thefin, and the other roll being devoid of radial serrations and acting. to hold the wire between the rolls for fin shearing action of the serrated roll.

. 2. Rotary apparatus for cutting away or trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire, said fin'being thin relative to the wire, and located intermediate thetop and bottom of the wire, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll havinga deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for which have radially extending serrations for hearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll. the support roll being devoid of radial serrations and acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, and means to synchronously. rotate said rolls in opposite directions. v

4. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing radially'against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means a for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, said support roll additionally having projections adapted to be rec'eived in the recesses of the wire, whereby the wire is positively fed by the support roll, and means to synchronously rotate said rolls in opposite directions.

5. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses alongone face, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the suptions adapted to be received in the recesses of the wire is not intended to exclude the equivalent bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, and the support roll being devoid of radial serrations and actingas means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the serrated cutting roll. a

- port roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, said support roll additionally having projections adapted to be received in the recesses of the wire, whereby the wire is positively fed by the support roll, said projections being large enough in the direction'of feed of the wire to control the feed, but being much smaller than the recesses in a direction transverse of the wire in order to permit the wire to self-adjustably locate itself relative to the serrations of the cutting roll, and means to synchronously rotate sad rolls in opposite directions. a

6. Rotary apparatus for cuttingaway or trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire, said fin being thin relative to'the wire, and located intermediate the topand bottom of the wire, saidapparatuscomprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for. bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, and means for rubbing against and thereby cleaning said wire of any out scrap or fin tending to cling thereto.

7. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notchedside edges ofv a slide fastener wire, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing rad ally against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire to- 3. Rotary apparatus for cutting away or trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire, said fin being thin relative to the wire, .and located intermediate the top and bottom of the wire, said apparatus comprising a cutting rollanda support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of tending to cling thereto 'ward the support roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, and vibrator means following said rolls for vibrating the trimmed wire in order to dislodge, any out scrap or fin 8. Rotary apparatus for cutting away or trim ming fin from the notched side edges of aslide fastener wire, said fin being thin relative to the wire, and located intermediate the top and bottom of the wire, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of for supporting the wire-against the shearing action of the cutting roll, said support roll additionallyjhaving projections adapted to be rewhich have radially extending serrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means forlsupporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, and wiper means formed at one edge of .a scrap discharge tube to wipe any cut scrap or fin from the cutting roll.

9. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the 10. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting-roll, a scrap or waste discharge tube disposed immediately adjacent one of the rolls, an air-blast tube having a nozzle directed into said waste tube, wiper means'to wipe out scrap or fin from the cutting roll, and spring fingers following said rolls for bearing against --the trimmed wire in order to dislodge any residuary cut scrap or fin tending to cling thereto.

11. Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from 'the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face, said apparatus i comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the

cuttingroll having adeep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending ser rations for bearing radially against and shearing-the fin transversely of the wire toward the l2; Rotary apparatus for trimming fin fromthe notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groovethe opposed face walls of which have radially extending serceived in the recesses of the wire, means to rotate said support roll, and wiper means to wipe scrap or fin from the cutting roll.

13 Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face, said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the

cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of thewire towardthe support roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, said support roll additionally having projections adapted tojbe received in the recesses of the wire, means to rotate said support roll, a scrap or waste discharge tube disposed immediately adjacent one of the rolls, and an air-blast tube havinga nozzle directed into said waste tube.

14. 'Rotary apparatus for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face, saidapparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, the cutting roll having a deep groove the opposed face walls of which have radially extending serrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means for supporting the wire against the shearing action of the cutting roll, said support roll additionally having projections adapted to be received in the recesses of the wire, means to rotate said support roll, a scrap or waste dischargetube disrations for bearing radially against and shearing the fin transversely of the wire toward the support roll, the support roll acting as means posed immediately adjacent one of the rolls, an

air-blast tube having a nozzle directed into said waste tube, and means for rubbing against and thereby cleaning the trimmed serrations of the wire in order to dislodge any out scrap or, fin tending to cling thereto.

15. Rotary apparatus .for trimming fin from the notched side edges of a slide fastener wire having recesses along one face. said apparatus comprising a cutting roll and a support roll, 'the of the-cutting roll, said support roll additionally having projections adapted to be received in the recesses of the wire, said projections being large enough in the direction of feed of the wire to control the feed, but being much smaller than the recesses in a direction transverse of the wire in order to permitthe wire to self-adlustably locate itself relative to the serrations of the cutting roll, means to rotate said support roll, a scrap or waste discharge tube disposed immediately adjacent one of the rolls, an air-blast tube having a nozzle directed into said waste tube, wiper means to wipe scrap or fin from the cutting roll, and vibrator means for vibratingthe trimmed wire'in order to dislodge any'cut scrap or fin tending to cling thereto.

5 FREDERICK ULRICH. 

